Home Is Where The Heart Is

Happy weekend morning everyone :) Today, I wanted to share an altered wooden house. It started out as plain MDF wood I got for a few dollars at Michael's. I prettied it up with the gorgeous Bo Bunny "Prairie Chic" and "C'Est La Vie" collections. I also used a ton of crackle paint, lace, Prima flowers and flourishes, and so much more. Please take a look, and I hope you don't mind the photo overload! Also, if you want to see it "in action", I'm including a video as well.

The house from the front:


The top floor. I added some "lights" from my daughter's Calico Critters set and shabbied them up with white paint. The chair is also for dollhouses that I had sitting around, and I added some white tiny roses from IAmRoses.com, and tied them with twine. Under the chair, is a small metal frame with a picture of the kids. On the wall, is another picure of them I decorated the chipboard frame with some huge white half-pearls. The floor is lined with paper from the "Prairie Chic" collection - it is a woodgrain pattern with a chevron print, and looks very much like a parquet floor. On the floor, there is a little doily rug, made by Kaisercraft.


In the corner, I added a dress form that I cut out using my Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers die, and hanging beside it, I added a metal frame. To make it into a mirror, I cut out a small piece of metal sheet and added it to the frame. The dress form is decorated with a Jolee's Boutique pearl flourish. The windows have little lace curtains fluttering in the breeze:


Here is the bottom floor. I again used the parquet-paper for the floor, and added a white knit doily for a rug. The back wall is decorated with the sentiment "Home is where the heart is". For the heart, I cut it out using my Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers die, and decorated it it with a Jolee's Boutique pearl flourish.


The vases started out as plain wood. I painted them, and then added Clear Rock Candy crackle paint on top, so they are glossy and have a slightly crackle finish, looking like glazed vintage vases. The smallest one, I heat embossed with silver embossing powder. For the table, I combined a wooden spool with a wooden flat circle, and then colored them with chalk ink for a softer effect.


On the left hand side, I hung a little metal frame with a photo of my son. The windows have lace curtains hanging from metal curtain rods, that I shabbied up with some white paint:


On the right, there is the same metal frame, but with a picture of my daughter:


The sides of the house and the back are all covered with the white woodgrain paper from the "Shabby Chic" collection. I also hung little flower boxed from the windows, which I made out of the newsprint paper from the "C'Est La Vie" collection. Inside the flower boxes, I added some greenery and flowers. The windows are painted with white crackle paint and lined with pearl trim:


I decorated the wall with Prima flowers and flourishes. I also couldn't resist adding a tiny thermometer - always important to know what the weather will be!


The other side of the house also has the same woodgrain paper, a flower box, and some more butterflies cut out with a Martha Stewart punch.


I also added more Prima flowers and a pretty banner - if you look closely, one of the pieces says, "follow your dreams". The windows are again painted with white crackle paint and lined with pearls.


The roof was decorated with newsprint paper from the "C'Est La Vie" collection. I punched out strips of it with a scalloped edge punch. Before gluing down, I inked all the edges. When they were already attached to the roof, I added some more white paint to the edges. I have a Prima flower vine, Prima flourish, and Prima flower decorating the roof on this side. The chimney was painted with white crackle paint.


The back of the house has a sticker quote from the "C'Est La Vie" collection - "The Secret To Having It All, Is Knowing You Already Do" - I think that applies beautifully to family :)


And some more views of different angles:




And if you would like to see it "in action" and hear a little bit more about it, check out my video: